SENATE MINUTES

Meeting Date:

10/18/01

Status of Minutes:

APPROVED

Senate Session:

XVIII

Meeting Number:

5

Present:

P. Travis, S.A. Davis, N. Sidell, C. D'Ortona, H. Biblehimer, B. Ganong, M. Syrett, T. Elsasser for D. Rotella, B. Cunningham, K. Sullins, A. Longoria, S. Thornsley, J. Ulrich, B. Holtman, R. Dodson, M. Matarese, A. Gaskievicz, J. Werner, M.-D. Schmid, R. Timko for I.Newman, M. Chester, S. Brown, R, Keller, A. Mabe, J. Floyd, L. Cass, P. King for D. Blouch, C. Coleman, N. Cooledge, R. Cooper.

I.

P. Travis called the meeting to order at 3:33 p.m.

II.

Minutes of October 4, 2001 were approved as electronically distributed, with corrections in Meeting Number (four, not three); correct spelling of M.-D. Schmid; and APC rather than AAC in section VII (Chester/Ganong).

APPROVED

III.

Treasurer's Report (C. D'Ortona)

The account balance is $193 and counting. Senate reps were reminded to collect $10 dues from faculty.

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APPROVED

IV.

Announcements

1. The Faculty Assembly to discuss Senate Constitution revisions is set for 10/19 at 4:00 p.m. in the Planetarium.
   
   
2. SSHE Chancellor J. Hample will hold an open forum for faculty and staff on Friday, 10/26 from 11:00 &endash; noon in 307 AHSC. Senators were encouraged to announce this to department faculty.
   
   
3. L. Cass thanked those who have attended recent demonstrations on Webadvisor. Midterm grades are being mailed to departments today. The Spring 2002 master schedule of courses will be delivered to departments early next week with registration slated to begin on 10/29. Refer any questions on Webadvisor to L. Cass. Student PINs were distributed today to departments. Faculty were reminded that PINs are privileged information that should not be sent to students via e-mail. The goal is for students to meet with advisors prior to registering.

   
   

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V.

Committee Reports

A.

Academic Affairs (H. Biblehimer)


Five motions were presented by AAC.

MOTION ONE: To approve deletion of ANH 405 - Native North Americans: Ecology and World View; ANH 270 Native North Americans: Contemporary Issues; SOC 460 Sociology of Health and Medicine; SOC 321 Futuristic Society; and SOC 302 Community.

Rationale: Faculty are no longer available to teach and courses are no longer taught on a regular basis.

Discussion: None. MOTION APPROVED.

MOTION TWO: To approve Program Deletion - delete Minor in Native American Studies.

Rationale: Faculty no longer available to teach.

Discussion: None. MOTION APPROVED.

MOTION THREE: To approve AAS degree in Medical Transcription.

Rationale: Medical Transcriptionists are in great demand in Northern Pennsylvania and nationally.

Discussion: Faculty will be hired by Guthrie and not under union contract, similar to faculty teaching in the AAS program in Respiratory Therapy. AAC felt that there is enough academic rigor to justify the AAS degree. A critical need exists in the area and a needs assessment was completed that supports this. The program will be advertised that gen ed requirements must be met. Students who cannot or do not wish to enter nursing will be attracted to this and the Medical Information Coding programs. These programs are not offered by anyone else in the area. MOTION APPROVED.

MOTION FOUR: To approve AAS degree in Medical Information Coding.

Rationale: Medical Information Coders are in great demand in Northern Pennsylvania and nationally.

Discussion: No additional discussion was added that was not covered in the discussion for Motion Three. MOTION APPROVED.

MOTION FIVE: To approve New Course SOC 357: Sociology of Education.

Rationale: Students will develop and understanding of the major theories and research in the area of Sociology and Education.

Discussion: None. MOTION APPROVED.

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B.

Academic Planning (B. Ganong)

APC is continuing to discuss and to evaluate tools for measuring academic quality. 

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C.

Administrative Affairs & Elections

No report.

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D.

Student Affairs & Admissions (D. Rotella)

No report.

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E.

Information Technology (B. Holtman)

Senators were reminded to submit technology issues to the committee for investigation. The committee is looking for agenda items.

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F.

Library Advisory

No report.

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G.

Provost (N. Cooledge for M. Lane)

M. Lane and N. Cooledge will be meeting with each involved department regarding small program reviews. These meetings will be completed by the end of the semester. A formal report with recommendations will be compiled by the beginning of spring semester.

There have been 72 student petitions filed with the Provost's office this semester, 12 of which deal with "Writing" designations. In the past, more W-related petitions are typically seen at the end of the semester.

Clarification was requested on the required QPA to apply for admittance to graduate programs here. N. Cooledge clarified that the requirement will be a QPA of 3.00 to insure consistency with the upcoming undergraduate education requirement.

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VI.

Old Business

1. A motion was made to rescind the AAC motion, as amended, that was approved by Senate at the meeting of 10/4 regarding the Information Literacy Checklist (Davis/King).

   Rationale: At the conclusion of the 10/4 meeting, a number of Senators approached the Vice President, who presided over the meeting, to explain that they had not voted on either the amendment or the motion because they did not know that they were entitled to vote. Since the number of Senators who did not vote for this reason exceeded the difference in the vote, it seems appropriate that this motion is made so that all Senators who are entitled to vote may do so, if the motion to rescind is approved. AAC supports this motion being filed.

   R. Timko objected to the consideration of the motion to rescind.

   Discussion to object to consideration: J. Halstead has not acted on the action taken on 10/4. If a vote is made to rescind the motion, the original motion from AAC will be back on the table. Is the present motion to rescind non-debatable? P. Travis consulted Robert's Rules of Order and determined that the motion is not debatable and a two-thirds vote is required; no second is needed. A hand count was taken on the objection to consideration. Seven Senators voted in favor of the objection to consideration, which was not sufficient to pass the objection to consideration motion. OBJECTION TO CONSIDERATION MOTION DEFEATED.

   The Senate returned to the consideration of the motion to rescind the action passed by Senate on 10/4 to approve the checklist to be used for courses applying for the Information Literacy designation, which was amended to replace the sentence "The department Chair must apply for Information Literacy status for each course" with "The instructor of record must apply for all sections of all courses on an individual basis."

   Discussion: R. Timko indicated that, while it is regrettable that all eligible to vote did not do so on 10/4, the motion was passed by the majority present. Rescinding the motion when a quorum was present sets a dangerous precedent. T. Elsasser asked why not follow procedure? Why deny due process? B. Holtman asked how many were eligible to vote and did not? Five approached the presiding officer after the meeting, enough to potentially change the outcome of the vote. A hand count was taken, with 16 voting in favor of rescinding and 9 opposed. MOTION TO RESCIND PASSED.

   AAC reintroduced the original motion from 10/4: to approve the checklist to be used for courses applying for the Information Literacy designation.

   Discussion: An amendment was made to replace the sentence "The department Chair must apply for Information Literacy status for each course" with "The instructor of record must apply for all sections of all courses on an individual basis" (Timko/Ulrich).

   Discussion of amendment: T. Elsasser argued against the amendment as not being user-friendly. Continuity and ease of student use were underscored. C. D'Ortona asked if Information Literacy was content-specific like G courses or presentation-specific like W courses? H. Biblehimer indicated that AAC felt it was mostly content-driven. Information Literacy and Information Technology are being confused. AAC supports the stance that Information Literacy be course-driven. R. Dodson argued for course-specific. The notion of simplifying gen ed had been commonly agreed on and this does not simplify. A. Mabe spoke as a member of the IG subcommittee. Academic freedom is at issue. Faculty have created a monster instead of simplifying. Increasing turf battles were predicted. I courses should be instructor-driven. B. Holtman indicated that, as a member of the IG subcommittee, a great deal of time was spent in considering this issue. Some courses could be automatically I and could be designated permanently, but not all courses are so clear. C. Coleman stated that the amendment is not in students' favor. Consider that the university exists because of students. R. Timko respectfully disagreed, in that he sees both students and faculty gaining freedom of choice if the amendment is passed. When departments look to consider which courses should be I courses under a course-driven system, departments will likely choose not to teach I courses at all. M. Chester argued for course-driven. If a course is a lab course, for example, an instructor must teach it as a lab course. M. Syrett noted that the W designation process is well established and not under consideration for change. T. Elsasser hopes that faculty will be flexible in teaching style and will work to make courses I courses. A concern is that no I or G designations exist yet, although students are being held to completing I and G requirements. N. Cooledge stated she does not believe that students will complain that there are too many I and G courses. A. Longoria indicated that expecting faculty to modify teaching styles is not realistic. N. Sidell expressed concern, as chair of the W committee, that modeling I courses after the W model is not a positive step, as the W system is confusing to students and faculty alike. T. Elsasser noted that each major should offer enough W, I and G courses to satisfy their students' requirements. R. Keller stated that if the W system does not work well now, why use it as a model? T. Elsasser asked what is wrong with competition, in that the way to fill a course is to offer it as a W, I and G course. R. Timko predicted that if I is course driven, student options will be reduced.

   A hand vote was taken on the amendment, with 11 for the amendment and 15 against. AMENDMENT DEFEATED.

   AAC's original motion was to approve the checklist to be used for courses applying for the Information Literacy designation.
   
   Discussion: no new comments were added. A hand vote was taken, with 17 in favor of the motion and 8 opposed. MOTION PASSED.

2. R. Timko reminded faculty to attend the 10/19 Assembly to override the Senate vote just taken. A simple majority of the assembly is needed and a motion can be made from the floor. Faculty must be present to vote; no proxies are permitted.

   
   

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VII.

New Business

1. S. Davis announced that receipts for dues are available from the treasurer.

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VIII.

Meeting adjourned at 4:46 p.m. (Coleman/Holtman).

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Respectfully Submitted,

Nancy Sidell
Secretary of Senate